Following the implementation of the New Zealand Football 'National Leagues System' changes, Football South will be transitioning our competitions into the new structure over the next two seasons.

You can read the full media release from New Zealand Football here: New Zealand Football prioritises youth and sustainability with new national league competitions structure (nzfootball.co.nz)

The structure change will see the creation of a permanent South Island League sitting above the Football South and Mainland Football men's Premier Leagues.

Following consultation with clubs across the South Island, Football South and Mainland Football have agreed a plan with clubs to transition into this new structure.

In 2021 both Federations will run two full rounds of their respective Premier Leagues, with qualification into a South Island League. A summary is as follows:

• The ODT Men's Southern Premier League will begin on March 20th
• The league has 8 teams, reduced from 9 in 2020 due to the club partnership between Caversham AFC and Dunedin Technical AFC to form a new 'South City Royals' partnership
• Each team will play all over teams twice, meaning 14 game weekends
• The Chatham Cup will continue as normal
• At the end of the ODT Men's Southern Premier League the top-3 placed teams will qualify into a South Island League along with the top-5 teams from the Mainland Premier League
• The remaining 5 teams from the ODT Men's Southern Premier League will play each other once in the Southern Championship
• The South Island League, and Southern Championship will begin around mid-July and finish in early September
• The top two placed teams in the South Island League will qualify through to the National League, playing against teams from the Northern and Central Leagues for the national league trophy and qualification to the Oceania Champions League - this will begin in October and run through to December
• Teams involved in the South Island League and Championship playoff game are required to meet NZF player eligibility regulations of a maximum of 4 non-citizens and 1 OFC registered player in the game-day squad, along with two u20 players in the starting line-up. 

Qualification for the 2022 South Island League

• The two highest placed Football South teams in the 2021 South Island League will qualify for the South Island in 2022
• The third placed Football South team will play-off against the Championship winner for the remaining place in the South Island League in 2022 - this will be a two-legged playoff
• The 2022 South Island League will be expanded to 10 teams, with three from Football South and seven from Mainland
• This representation may be reviewed in the future pending confirmation of travel and league costs, and number of licensed entities

Southern Premier League in 2022

• Football South will review the ODT Premier League this year with a view to launching a 'new look' league in 2022
• We aspire for this to involve 8-10 teams, with additional regional representation and a clear promotion/relegation pathway through the leagues structure through to the South Island League

The Kingsgate Women's Southern Premier League has not been subject to the same national changes and will continue in the same structure for 2021:

• The league will consist of seven teams
• It will also kick-off on March 20th
• Teams will play each other 3 times, and finish in August which will allow sufficient rest time for the players prior to the National Women's League starting in September

The New Zealand Football review did indicate further changes to the women's pinnacle league strucutres which will be explored in 2021. 

If you have any questions, give your club or Football South a shout. 

Article added: Thursday 11 February 2021